Handing out the rum ration aboard HMCS Arvida in St. John’s to celebrate the news of Italy’s surrender on Sept. 8, 1943. [Lt. John D. Mahoney/DND/LAC/PA-142439]
“If the Sergeant steals your rum, never mind!” Thus goes one of the favourite ditties when veterans foregather, sung to the tune of the wartime refrain, “Though your heart may ache a while, never mind!” written and composed by Harry Dent and Tom Goldburn. Today the original words are all but forgotten, but it is quite safe to say that the army version will last as long as good fellows get together.
The familiar letters on the gallon stone jars, denoting “Service Rum Diluted,” have also lent themselves to many a quip: Soon Runs Dry, Sergeants Rarely Deliver, Seldom Reaches Destination, or as the orderly sergeant so aptly puts it in his “Five Nines and Whiz Bangs”—Soldiers’ Real Delight.
Rum, however, has not always been the nectar of the troops as will be noted from that which follows. Soldiers in the Great War probably would have said they were being cheated had they been told the ration in earlier times was one pint per person instead of the existing scale of half a gill. But when the ration was more liberal, the spirit was weaker and was dispensed more in the form of a drink or treat, than for medicinal purposes.
“If the Sergeant steals your rum, never mind!”
The gradually diminishing quantity, with its corresponding increase in strength, has been due to military expediency: to lessen the bulk in shipment and handling. If wars and armies continue in the future, the day may come when rum may be concentrated in tablet form!
As in various matters the army has followed the Senior Service, it is necessary to turn to the Navy for early reference to the potion supplied to the men who served in other days.
Owing to the limited stowage for beer or wine—the allowance of which was one gallon per man per diem—Blake, who had been given command of the fleets of the Commonwealth in the previous year, in 1650 introduced brandywine, the word meaning firebrand. Brandy was supplied to the sailors until after the conquest of Jamaica, when rum was substituted.
WELL WATERED
The British expedition under Penn and Venables “relieved the Spaniards in the occupancy of Jamaica in 1655. In 1670, the handing-over statement was completed and the island—known as Xaymaca, meaning “well-watered”—was formally ceded to England, and thus was secured the font of supply of the Soldiers’ Real Delight. Seventeen years later, in March of 1687, rum was introduced in the King’s Navy.
Although coming from the West Indies, the name “rum” did not originate in Jamaica. The sailors called it rumbowling, derived from rumbullion, meaning “kill-devil.” Rumbullion, or rum as it is now called in shorter form, originated in Barbados where the planters first distilled it between 1640 and 1645.
Rum, as beer or wine before, was issued twice a day, the allowance being one pint per man.
In 1740, Admiral Vernon ordered the sailors to dilute their rum with water. Since that time, it has borne the name of Grog—Old Grog being the nickname of the admiral who habitually wore grogram (silk and mohair) breeches.
The Newfoundland Regiment (Militia) formed in St. John’s in 1757 were allowed a pint of rum per man, daily, when under arms.
British or Commonwealth soldiers eating in a trench with their rum ration in a stone jug, 1917. [NAM/2002-02-589-7]
GROG FOR THE P.Β.Ι.
His Excellency Guy Carleton, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Province of Quebec and the territories depending thereon in America, Vice-Admiral of the same, and Major-General of His Majesty’s Forces, etc., writing from Montreal on June 8, 1775, to Major Preston, commanding troops at St. John’s, stated: “The soldiers might work two or four hours at most and then be relieved so the business might go on briskly. I shall allow half-a-pint of rum to those who work, or have any extraordinary fatigue, to mix with their water, at your discretion, but all who get drunk are to be struck off this allowance.”
“To those who work” would seem to eliminate the overseers; the work, by the way, consisted of building two redoubts, and His Ex. added the P.S., “If you want entrenching tools, you may get some from Chambly.”
A point of interest lies in the orders given to the men both in the navy and the army that they themselves were called upon to dilute the rum.
UNDER THE IRON DUKE
In the Peninsula Campaign and at Waterloo, the British Army had an allowance of gin. From the many “Recollections” that those campaigning days produced, it is difficult to distinguish the “issued” stuff from that which was “bootied.”
Sergeant Richard Davey of the Royal Artillery Drivers, a soldier of Wellington’s, seems to have fared fairly well so far as liquid refreshment went. Writing from Lisbon on Feb. 27, 1811, he stated that he had cured himself of an illness by drinking porter “at 15 pence per pot.” On Christmas Day 1811, “after dinner we drank grog”; on New Year’s Day “a pint of wine.” Later on he states, “we have a little drop of rum when we go to bed, mostly under a tree by the side of the horses, it makes us sleep well and keeps out the cold.”
In another letter shortly after the capture of Badajos, he mentions meeting an old friend and “we drank a canteen of rum together.” From Fournos on April 3, 1813, Davey informs his wife in Sussex, England, that he has been in hospital suffering from a fever and goes on, “I was then advised to drink (but I suppose you will say, ‘you did not want much persuading’) which I did. Me and my comrade always got drunk twice every day.”
I shall allow half-a-pint of rum to those who work or have any extraordinary fatigue to mix with their water at your discretion, but all who get drunk are to be struck off this allowance.”
The much-quoted Rifleman Harris is a little more explicit and is definite as to the quantity. At Flushing in 1809—just after his regiment had disembarked the continent—he states: “The British Army receives an allowance of half a pint of gin per day.”
Following the British success at Waterloo, Lord Albermarle said: “Prior to taking up our position for the night of June 17th, the regiment—the 14th Foot—filed past a large tubful of gin. Every officer and man was, in turn, presented with a little tin-pot full. No fermented liquor that has since passed my lips could vie with that delicious Schnapps. As soon as each man was served, the precious contents that remained in the tub were tilted over on the ground.”
A half-gill measure for the rum ration on HMS Vindictive. The measuring cup was damaged by gunfire during the action at Zeebrugge in April 1918. [IWM/EPH 5235]
A GILL OF RUM
Returning again to this side of the Atlantic, we find the ration considerably reduced. A general order, dated at Montreal, Oct. 25, 1812, read as follows: “His Excellency the Commander of the Forces is pleased to direct in consideration of the advanced season of the year, that a Gill of Rum be added to the ration of provision of troops employed in Batteaux. Officers in charge of Detachments are strictly enjoined to superintend the daily issue of this part of the ration, and under no circumstance is the soldier ever to receive more than the daily allowance at one issue.” A further order dated March 1, 1815 stated: “The issue of Rum to the troops is to be discontinued on the 24th instant.”
SOME BARTENDER!
In the Egyptian Campaign of 1882, rum was supplied to the British Soldiery direct in barrels, the common practice being to knock in the head with a pioneer’s axe and issue forthwith. It is claimed that the adoption of the stone jar containers subsequently used in South Africa and the Great War was due to an incident that occurred on the night before Tel-el-Kebir, Sept. 12-13, immediately before Garnet Wolsley’s little force moved forward from Kassassin.
No lights were allowed and no noise was permitted during the issuing of rum. In the 74th Highland Light Infantry, the regimental orderly sergeant rationed out the precious liquid. By a cruel irony of fate it happened that this individual—a steady, reliable man, with a clean military record, and a strict teetotaler—was the president of the recently organized regimental branch of the Army Temperance Society.
“We have a little drop of rum when we go to bed, mostly under a tree by the side of the horses, it makes us sleep well and keeps out the cold.”
Bending over the barrel as he stretched lower and lower in serving out the rum, the unfortunate orderly sergeant became overcome by the fumes and finally “passed out.” When later the troops formed up to march off, the sergeant was missing. He was soon located, however, when some of the officers were attracted by his drunken song. A couple of NCO’s were called to the scene and they almost throttled the sergeant in their efforts to suppress his exuberance, ’til finally the medical officer found it necessary to resort to chloroform.
When the sergeant came to, the engagement was over and a Drumhead Court Martial was convened. The seriousness of the offence—unexplained on account of the pitch-dark night of the occurrence and the fact that he reeked of rum—resulted in his being declared guilty and he was condemned to be shot.
The commander-in-chief, however, being in good spirits following the brilliant victory, decided against an execution and commuted the sentence to two years penal servitude. Before the “orderly sergeant”—now reduced—proceeded to Malta to serve his sentence, the campaign at Cairo ended and representations were made on his behalf that gave him his freedom and restored his rank.
(The account of this incident is condensed from “Some Recollections of Service with the Imperials” by Br.-Gen. C. F. Winter of Ottawa, which appeared in Canadian Defence Quarterly of January 1927).
ROLLING ON TO KHARTOUM
In the Khartoum Campaign of 1898, the troops were allowed rum twice a week, a half-gill being each man’s share. The grousing song of that day did not reflect upon the honesty of the sergeants—perhaps it referred to and was sung only on rumless days. The ditty, entitled “Roll on to Khartoum,” included the following stanza:
Come, forward march, and do your duty;
Though poor your grub, no rum, bad ’bacca,
Step out for fighting and no booty,
To trace a free red line thro’ Africa.
In South Africa, 1899-1902, rum was issued to the troops three times a week; the same as in the Great War. One half-gill being the approved ration, on Dominion Day the Canadians received a special issue. All troops received a special tot on May 24, 1900, to drink to Her Majesty’s health. Frequently the soldiers pooled their rum ration and gambled for the “pot.” This brought about the order that it must be consumed on the spot. The Boers were inveterate gin drinkers and invariably carried bottles of this liquor in their saddle bags.
Rum issue to men of the 8th Battalion Black Watch in the Carnoy Valley in July 1916. [IWM/Q 4008]
IN THE GREAT WAR
In the German army, 1/10 litre of spirits was allowed as a special field ration. The French war scale provided for 1/4 litre of wine daily, with 1/16 litre of brandy by special order; the British 1/64th gallon of rum. The American army did not include alcohol in its war ration.
The general instructions covering the supply of rum to British troops will doubtless be news to many a Canadian veteran:
(1) Rum will always be kept under the personal charge of the Company Commander.
(2) The best time for a rum issue is in the early morning.
(3) No issue of rum will be made, except in the presence of an officer; any rum left over will be handed back to the charge of the Company Commander.
(4) Men undergoing punishment for drunkenness will receive no issue of rum for 14 days after the offence, unless it is necessary for medical reasons.
In some of the British corps the ration had to be consumed in the presence of an officer. In the Canadian Corps, it is doubtful whether any rum was “left over and handed back.” Neither was the rum issued “in the presence of an officer,” the NCO’s being trusted to handle the job, which on the whole, they did right well.
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